Tribute
to Einstein Helps Residents Remember A Legend

Candace
Braun

Residents gathered outside Borough Hall on Monday
to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's Special
Theory of Relativity and the World Year of Physics, as well as
the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death.

A decade after
one Township resident brought public attention to the fact that
there was no formal monument to Einstein in Princeton, the Borough
has installed a bronze bust of the scientist who was named "Man
of the 20th Century" by Time magazine, and who spent the
last 22 years of his life at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton.

On
Monday, residents, officials, and others who have helped bring
the idea to fruition gathered at Borough Hall to unveil Einstein's
likeness, in the form of a 300-pound bronze bust, which sits atop
a 5,000-pound granite pedestal.

The bust, worth approximately $150,000, was donated
by its creator, Robert Berks, through The Robert Berks Foundation.
The statue was taken from his original molds for a 12-foot Einstein
Millennial Monument that was placed at the Israel Academy of Sciences
in Jerusalem in 1999.

But this was not the first statue
of Einstein that the sculptor created; his first bust was made
during a visit to Einstein's home in Princeton on April 18, 1953,
a likeness that later was used to create a 24-foot seated Einstein
Centennial Monument on the grounds of the National Academy of
Sciences in Washington D.C. in 1978.

Einstein appreciated
the sculptor's work, writing in a letter to Mr. Berks in 1954,
one year before his death, "I admire the bust highly as a
portrait and not less as a characterization of mental personality."

The
Einstein Fund of Princeton has supported the project since its
inception, and, with help from the Borough more recently, is responsible
for the engraved granite pedestal and 25-foot block of land, now
known as "EMC Square."

The engraving tells how
Einstein began his life in 1879 in Ulm, Germany, left his mark
on civilization with his papers on the Theory of Relativity, and
spent his last years as a resident of Princeton and a professor
at the Institute for Advanced Study.

"Humanitarian,"
"physicist," "educator," and "immigrant"
are engraved in the stone, designed by Hillier landscape architect
Brian Meneghin, to remind Princeton of the roles that made Einstein
important to both Princeton, and the world.

Meeting Einstein

A
few days before Princeton unveiled its tribute, the statue's creator
gave a personal account of Einstein in a Town Topics interview.

Having
devoted more than half a century to his work, Mr. Berks, 83, has
sculpted more than 300 busts and 14 monuments. But he remembers
the day he met Einstein 52 years ago as if it were yesterday.

"I
spent two days [in his home] that changed my entire life,"
said Mr. Berks. "It's something I want to share with the
entire world."

Mr. Berks was invited to Einstein's
home after the scientist viewed some of his work: "He said
it took him less than a fraction of a second to realize he wanted
to sit for me."

The sculptor's wife, Dorothy, who was
24 at the time, also vividly remembers the experience, as she
was left alone to make small talk with the great thinker while
her husband retrieved his supplies. She recalled Einstein picking
up a small puzzle-like object off his shelf and playing with it,
asking Mrs. Berks if she could help him solve it.

"It
broke the ice," she said. "After that we spoke freely
for the entire two days. There was a completely relaxed,
collegiate attitude between us."

Mr. Berks worked two
long days on the sculpture, his wife assisting him by supplying
him with the necessary clay.

"We talked about many
things together," said Mr. Berks, adding that they had a
common interest in sailing.

"There were all sorts of
stories about Einstein being rescued [while sailing}," said
Mrs. Berks. "He wasn't a very good sailor," she laughed.

Mr.
Berks recalled how the 8-year-old girl next door would come over
to Einstein's house after school to get help with her arithmetic,
after which they would walk together to the corner store for an
ice cream cone.

As an artist, Mr. Berks, who was 31 at the
time, naturally remembers more about Einstein's appearance than
anything else.

"He was a natty dresser," he kidded,
adding that he was often seen wearing a sweatshirt with sandals,
regardless of the weather. "He hated socks."

Referring
to one of Einstein's most visible features, the sculptor said
the scientist's hair was particularly memorable. When he arrived
at the house it was neatly combed, but within 15 minutes it was
sticking out in all directions. Mr. Berks said this happened because
Einstein would pull at his hair and tug at his mustache while
he pondered scientific problems.

"I asked him how he
came to his hairstyle," said Mr. Berks," and he said,
Through negligence.'" Mr. Berks noticed that the scientist
would seem to get lost in his thoughts, and when he snapped back
to reality, "it was as though he came back from being millions
and millions of light years away."

Asked how he first
began to ponder the Theory of Relativity, Einstein told Mr. Berks
that when he was 13 years old he wondered what it would be like
to ride on a beam of light.